Environment Agency: More than 1,000 properties flooded across England

More than 1,000 properties across England have flooded amid heavy downpours this week, as temperatures look set to plummet at the weekend.

Hundreds of flood warnings and alerts remained in place on Friday, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issuing a cold weather alert from Saturday.

It said areas of the South West on the River Avon would also be affected, adding that ongoing impacts are likely across much of England over the next five days because the ground is “completely saturated”.

Data from the Environment Agency shows almost every river in England to be exceptionally high with some rivers reaching their highest flow on record, such as the River Itchen in Southampton which saw a flow double its previous record in December.

Caroline Douglass, the agency’s flood director, said the River Trent has been at “some of the highest levels we’ve seen in 24 years”.

“Over November and December, following Storm Babet and Storm Ciaran, the ground was incredibly saturated right across the country, particularly in the east.

“But also that’s just been topped up over the pre-Christmas period. That rainfall from this week has just added to that, so there’s really nowhere for the water to go.

“The ground is completely saturated so in that situation we get more flooding and greater impacts than we’ve seen and probably in areas where people aren’t used to.”

The UKHSA has issued a yellow cold weather alert from 9am on Saturday until 12pm on January 12.

It said temperatures will drop to minus 4C in parts of rural south-west England on Saturday night and minus 6C in rural areas along the Welsh border in Shropshire and north Herefordshire on Sunday night.

The UKHSA said: “A brisk easterly wind developing across the south over the weekend will make it feel much colder, with the added wind chill.

“Temperatures are likely to be a few degrees below average, across much of the UK, especially overnight, with more widespread frosts than of late.

“Ice is likely to be an issue for many given the very wet ground in most areas. It is probable this cold spell may last well into the following week.”

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said conditions were “turning considerably drier”, adding that the weather service has no rain warnings issued “for the first time in quite a while”.

He said the spell of rain that hit southern England on Thursday is moving eastwards across the North Sea, leaving “some scattered showers across parts of the UK”, mostly in the northeastern parts of Scotland.

Mr Claydon told the PA news agency: “We’re heading to a more settled spell of weather, which will be very welcome for many people across the UK after what’s been a very wet start to 2024.”

Stefan Laeger, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said flood impacts were expected to continue in parts of England over the next five days despite a change to drier weather, as “rivers and groundwater levels remain high”.

He added: “Significant river flooding impacts are still expected today and on Saturday across parts of the East Midlands on the River Trent downstream of Nottingham, the River Severn including Gloucester and Tewkesbury and also today in the South West on the River Avon due to the recent prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall.”

South Western Railway services were disrupted on Friday across its entire network, with major issues on its west of England routes.

The operator said: “Whilst we expect water levels to drop and most of the network to reopen today, we will not be able to operate services between Yeovil Junction and Exeter because of a landslip near Crewkerne.

“Disruption to the rest of the network is expected to last throughout today due to displaced trains and crews.

“We would urge everyone to check before they travel to see whether their train is running as planned.”

Great Western Railway warned there was “significant disruption” to its services.

“Customers are advised to travel as early as possible or consider delaying their journey.

“A serious incident near Reading last night, where police closed the railway for several hours, has left trains and crew in the wrong place for the start of service, which alongside localised flooding, continues to hamper our ability to run trains.”

Flooding has closed the railway between Swindon and Bristol Parkway and between Reading and Taunton.

It comes after disruption caused by strong winds and rain from Storm Henk earlier in the week, which has left the ground saturated and more prone to flooding.

Nottinghamshire County Council declared a major incident on Thursday due to rising levels along the River Trent and several residents of Radcliffe Residential Park, an estate of static caravans for the over-55s just to the east of the city, were evacuated.

Parts of southern England including Gloucestershire were submerged – with some riverside areas of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire also underwater on Friday.

In east London, around 50 people were led to safety by firefighters overnight after a canal burst its banks in Hackney Wick, causing flooding in an area of around 10 acres.

She told PA: “I got a call shortly after 10pm last night from a neighbour telling me that our studio building was flooding.

“By the time I arrived, the emergency services had cordoned off the area but we were able to wade in and salvage what we could.

“The water was knee-high in front of the building, and at least five or six inches in the corridors.”

The highest rainfall totals recorded on Thursday were 35.2mm at Otterbourne in Hampshire, with a wide range of 20-30mm across much of the southern counties of England.

Labour has accused the Government of being “asleep at the wheel” over flood warnings.

The party wants Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to convene a “Cobra-style taskforce” to protect homes from further damage.

In a joint statement shadow Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden and shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said: “The Conservatives have brushed over the risk of flooding for too long and communities are paying the price.”

The party’s spokeswoman for housing and communities, Helen Morgan, said: “The Prime Minister should see for himself the devastation caused by these floods.

“People’s homes and businesses have been ruined yet again.”

The period between July and December last year was the wettest on record dating back to 1890, according to the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).

Since September, the start of the storm year, there have been eight named storms to hit the UK, which is the highest number in a season to be named by the Met Office since it began naming them in 2015.

This has turned the country into what hydrologist Professor Hannah Cloke, from the University of Reading, described as a “sopping wet sponge”.